Nearly 150 parents descended upon the Government High School in Sector 52 of Chandigarh, on Thursday to protest the "forcible" chopping of hair of four girls.

The protestors shouted slogans against the school administration after the students claimed a few girls, who were undergoing a vocational beautician's course, gave them a haircut against their will on Wednesday. "One of the girls asked me to sit on a chair and tied an apron around me. She told me she would cut my hair, which would make me look beautiful. When I resisted, she threatened to complain to the teacher and fail me in examinations," alleged Jyoti, a student of Class IV.

The school authorities, however, vehemently denied the allegations, saying the girls had volunteered for the haircut and later, out of fear, blamed the students attending the course.

The incident came to light on Thursday morning when one of the girls told her mother that a aspiring beautician forcibly cut her hair. More students came forward when the girl's parents met the school principal to complain against the incident.

As parents got more agitated, the police had to be called in to pacify the mob. Talking to Newsline, Sub-Inspector Maninder Singh said: "The statement of the parents has been recorded. Legal action will follow as soon as the parents lodge a formal complaint."

Tempers ran high as parents also blamed teachers for misguiding students and not taking due care of their wards in the school. "The teachers should have known better and advised students not to indulge in such activities," said Mamta, mother of Sindhu, one of the "victims".

The Education department, meanwhile, defended the school, saying it was in no way responsible for the incident. "The course is being organised by the Adult Education department and we had simply provided the school premises for the classes. Since I have received complaints from a lot of parents, I will take up the matter with the department concerned and conduct a proper inquiry," said Samwartak Singh, Director Public Instructions (Schools).

TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).